D.C. United now faces an uphill in the second leg of the CONCACAF
Champions Cup semifinal against Chivas de Guadalajara-but it could have
been a lot worse. A 1-1 draw salvaged in the final minute by a Luciano
Emilio header was enough to give fans at RFK a reason to hope.

Indeed, it's a very uphill battle that the MLS club now faces.
Guadalajara, which lies at an altitude of 5,000 feet above sea level,
is world-renowned for its fan support, so the fact that Tom Soehn's men
labored-and boy did they labor-to earn a draw against the Mexican
giants means the second task will be far tougher. It should also be
noted that no MLS team has ever won a CONCACAF game in Mexico, which
United must do to progress to the final.

"Absolutely, we're disappointed," midfielder Ben Olsen said. "We needed
to get a result, but we didn't." Olsen, however, was just about
United's best player on the field last night. His industry earned the
free kick that resulted in Emilio's late, and it must be said, unlikely
equalizer. Coach Soehn knows his team was lucky to walk away with a
tie, as Chivas, just like Pachuca in the first half against Houston,
was wasteful in front of goal. "I was a little disappointed in
the way we came out and our mentality toward the game," the D.C. coach
said. "We didn't handle the pressure well." Read the original story...